Iqiyi (IQ) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $1.19B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 11.05M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.31
• Revenue Growth: -10.68%
• EPS Growth: -127.54%
• Country: US
• Employees: 4,673
• Sector: Communication Services
• Sector Strength: 97
• Industry: Entertainment
• EPS (TTM): 0.02
• Shares Outstanding: 528,516,360
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 11,007,335
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 11,045,485
• PEG Ratio: 0.51
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.97
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.49
• P/FCF Ratio: 1.33K
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 16.29
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.71
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 3.37
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 3.11
• 1Y Price Target: $2.00
• Price Target Upside: 62.60% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 1
• EPS Forecast (FY): 0.51
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $26.97B

• Rating: 45 Neutral
• Price Target: $1.00 ▼(-18.70% Downside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/20/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/20/26

The score is held back primarily by weakened 2025 financial performance—especially the steep decline in operating/free cash flow—and strong negative technical trend signals. The earnings call adds some support via improving membership/ads and overseas momentum plus diversification initiatives, but thin margins and cash/related-party risk keep the outlook cautious; valuation provides limited support due to losses and no dividend.

Positive Factors

Membership recovery and subscriber growth

A sustained >30% YoY rebound and accelerating H2 subscriber growth materially strengthens recurring revenue. A larger, stickier subscriber base improves LTV, reduces reliance on volatile ad sales, and supports predictable cash flows for multi-year content investment and monetization.

Content/IP leadership and viewership dominance

Consistent #1 viewership establishes a durable competitive moat: hit IP drives repeat engagement, premium ad pricing, and franchise sequels. Strong content leadership supports cross-platform monetization, improves content ROI over time, and underpins sustained advertising and membership conversion.

International expansion and new experience/IP revenue engines

Rapid overseas membership gains plus physical experiential and IP consumer channels diversify revenue and lower domestic concentration risk. These structural initiatives create additional monetization paths and long-duration assets, supporting durable top-line growth beyond ad/subscription cycles.

Negative Factors

Severe cash flow deterioration

A near-total collapse in operating and free cash flow erodes the company’s internal funding for content and capex. In a content-intensive model, weakened cash generation forces greater reliance on external financing or slower content investment, raising execution and liquidity risk over the medium term.

Thin profitability and margin compression

Compressed gross and operating margins and a swing to a net loss signal fragile earnings power. Persistent thin profitability limits reinvestment capacity and increases sensitivity to content and marketing spending, meaning durable margin recovery is required to restore self-funded growth.

Balance sheet constraints and related-party exposure

Sizable debt and a material related-party loan reduce liquidity and raise governance/counterparty risk. With constrained cash buffers, these balance-sheet attributes can limit strategic flexibility, raise funding costs, and magnify downside if operational cash generation fails to rebound.

Iqiyi Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

iQIYI, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online entertainment services under the iQIYI brand in the People's Republic of China. The company offers various products and services comprising internet video, online games, live broadcasting, online literature, animations, e-commerce, and social media platform. It operates a platform that provides a collection of internet video content, including professionally-produced content licensed from professional content providers and self-produced content. The company also provides membership, content distribution, and online advertising services. In addition, it operates iQIYI Show, a live broadcasting service that enables users to follow their favorite hosts, celebrities, and shows in real time through live broadcasting; and iQIYI Lite, an easy and quick access to the personalized videos based on their user preferences. Further, it is involved in the talent agency and IP licensing activities, as well as engages in developing a video community app. The company was formerly known as Qiyi.com, Inc. and changed its name to iQIYI, Inc. in November 2017. iQIYI, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. iQIYI, Inc. is a subsidiary of Baidu Holdings Limited.

How the Company Makes Money

iQIYI primarily generates revenue through (1) membership/subscription services and (2) advertising. Membership revenue comes from paid subscribers who purchase recurring subscriptions (and related premium offerings) to access ad-free or enhanced viewing experiences and premium content. Advertising revenue is earned by selling ad inventory shown to viewers on its platform (including brand advertising and performance-based formats), with pricing and volumes influenced by user traffic, engagement, and advertiser demand. In addition to these two major streams, iQIYI also earns revenue from content distribution and other services: this can include licensing or distributing its content to third parties (such as other platforms or broadcasters) and monetizing intellectual property through online entertainment-related initiatives. The company’s ability to monetize depends on factors such as its content slate (especially performance of self-produced titles), subscriber growth and retention, advertising market conditions, and costs/terms associated with content acquisition, production, and distribution. Specific partnership terms or counterparties are not provided here: null.

Iqiyi Financial Statement Overview

Summary

2025 showed a clear deterioration: revenue declined (~2.1%), margins compressed, the company shifted back to a small net loss, and operating/free cash flow fell sharply (FCF near breakeven). Balance sheet leverage has improved versus earlier years, but sizable debt and weaker returns in 2025 limit flexibility.

Income Statement

Profitability deteriorated meaningfully in 2025: revenue fell ~2.1% and the company swung from a solid profit in 2024 (about 2.6% net margin) to a small loss in 2025 (about -0.8% net margin), with operating margin dropping to ~0.8%. Gross margin also compressed (from ~24.9% in 2024 to ~21.1% in 2025). The main positive is the multi-year turnaround versus 2020–2022 when losses were substantial, but the 2025 step-back and negative growth keep earnings quality and momentum weak.

Balance Sheet

Leverage is moderate and improved versus earlier years: debt-to-equity is ~1.17 in 2025 (better than ~3.6 in 2022), and equity is stable around 13.3B. Total debt remains sizable (~15.5B), which reduces flexibility if profitability stays soft. Returns on shareholder capital turned slightly negative in 2025 after being positive in 2023–2024, indicating the balance sheet is currently supporting weaker earnings.

Cash Flow

Cash generation weakened sharply in 2025: operating cash flow fell to ~0.10B from ~2.11B in 2024, and free cash flow collapsed to near breakeven (~0.01B), down ~97.9% year over year. While cash flow is still positive (unlike 2020–2022 when both operating and free cash flow were negative), the magnitude of the decline signals elevated risk around funding content/investment needs without relying more on financing.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	26.55B	29.23B	31.87B	29.00B	30.55B
Gross Profit	5.59B	7.27B	8.77B	6.68B	3.04B
EBITDA	223.07M	1.82B	17.25B	14.34B	12.10B
Net Income	-200.69M	764.06M	1.93B	-136.21M	-6.19B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	46.71B	45.76B	44.59B	46.05B	42.47B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	4.70B	4.47B	5.38B	7.92B	4.35B
Total Debt	15.55B	14.19B	15.29B	22.53B	17.57B
Total Liabilities	33.39B	32.39B	32.41B	39.70B	36.80B
Stockholders Equity	13.33B	13.37B	12.09B	6.25B	5.19B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	9.72M	1.94B	3.25B	-340.34M	-6.35B
Operating Cash Flow	102.92M	2.11B	3.35B	-70.57M	-5.95B
Investing Cash Flow	-318.51M	-2.44B	-1.74B	265.98M	1.26B
Financing Cash Flow	1.04B	-1.37B	-4.29B	4.47B	-2.96B

Iqiyi Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 1.23
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Positive

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For IQ, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 1.23 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 1.45, below the 50-day MA of 1.76, and below the 200-day MA of 2.03, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.16 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 20.14 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 14.10 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for IQ.

Iqiyi Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NFLX	76 Outperform	$387.68B	36.11	43.25%	―	15.49%	35.54%
DIS	68 Neutral	$176.28B	21.11	11.35%	1.10%	3.61%	152.34%
ROKU	64 Neutral	$13.75B	180.68	3.40%	―	16.61%	83.98%
WBD	62 Neutral	$68.00B	98.11	2.05%	―	-4.29%	―
WMG	61 Neutral	$12.48B	22.61	48.36%	2.47%	4.37%	-16.22%
Sector *	60 Neutral	$48.67B	4.58	-11.27%	4.14%	2.83%	-41.78%
IQ	45 Neutral	$1.19B	-64.47	-1.49%	―	-10.68%	-127.54%

Iqiyi Corporate Events

iQIYI Posts Weaker 2025 Profitability as Content Costs Rise, Bets on Overseas Growth

On February 26, 2026, iQIYI reported unaudited results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025, showing modest Q4 revenue growth but significantly weaker profitability compared with 2024. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 3% year on year to RMB6.79 billion as flat membership revenue and softer advertising were offset by a 94% surge in content distribution income, while higher content and marketing costs compressed the operating margin to 1% and trimmed non-GAAP operating income.

For 2025 as a whole, revenue fell 7% to RMB27.29 billion and operating income dropped sharply, with the company swinging from a RMB764.1 million profit in 2024 to a RMB206.3 million net loss, though non-GAAP figures remained positive. Management said an IP-centric content strategy is bolstering user engagement and highlighted strong momentum in overseas operations and the opening of its first iQIYI Land as emerging growth drivers, positioning these new businesses and AI-enabled content initiatives as key to long-term value creation despite near-term margin pressure.

The most recent analyst rating on (IQ) stock is a Buy with a $2.75 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Iqiyi stock, see the IQ Stock Forecast page.

iQIYI CFO Jun Wang Resigns; Finance Executive Ying Zeng Named Interim CFO

On January 21, 2026, iQIYI announced that Chief Financial Officer Jun Wang resigned from his position effective the same day for personal reasons, and that Senior Vice President of Finance Ying Zeng has been appointed Interim CFO while Wang remains as an advisor through May 31, 2026 to facilitate a smooth transition. The leadership change places a long-serving internal finance executive with IPO and financing experience at the financial helm as the company launches a search for a permanent CFO, aiming to preserve continuity in capital structure management and operational stability during the transition, which is important for investors and other stakeholders focused on governance and financial strategy at the Chinese streaming platform.

The most recent analyst rating on (IQ) stock is a Hold with a $2.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Iqiyi stock, see the IQ Stock Forecast page.